How to Track Bid Success and Improve Win Rates

1. Outline Your Enterprise Technique First

A great bidding strategy begins with realizing the place you need what you are promoting to go. Curry explains, “You wish to ensure your bidding technique aligns with what you are promoting objectives, not simply targeted on the numbers.” Earlier than choosing initiatives, ask your self: are we targeted on progress, coming into new markets, or strengthening our work in present ones?

Be certain each undertaking you pursue strikes you towards these priorities. Curry provides, “Guarantee your strategy strikes what you are promoting ahead, not simply retains you busy.”

You would possibly determine to:

• Enhance your bid quantity. That is useful if the purpose is to develop rapidly or enter new markets.
• Choose initiatives that suit your strengths. Specializing in jobs you do properly may also help increase win charges and create stronger relationships.

Join your bidding efforts to your total course, so that you make significant progress. Revisit your technique commonly to make sure it displays your long-term targets. 

2. Make Your Work Quantifiable

As soon as your technique is evident, set measurable objectives. As Curry explains, “I believe it’s actually crucial to ask your self, how will you make your work quantifiable? If you happen to have been pondering of setting a purpose and also you envision it as a hierarchy, you may have your purpose on the high. (You) want to begin understanding what are the important thing metrics and the outcomes which are going that can assist you monitor to that purpose.”

Curry suggests monitoring:

• Variety of bids every week or month
• Relationship-building outreach (calls/emails)
• Common worth per bid
• Bid success fee (wins out of complete bids)

For instance, in the event you submit eight bids a month and win two—you’ve bought a 25%-win fee. Monitoring your previous efficiency and evaluating it to trade requirements helps you see in the event you’re on monitor to achieve your objectives—and makes it simpler to repair what’s not working.

3. Use Historic Information and Trade Requirements

Don’t depend on guesswork—let your personal knowledge and trade requirements information you. Curry says:

“You would have a look at historic knowledge that you’ve got already ready (by) going again into the backlog of initiatives that you’ve got been engaged on. You would additionally have a look at trade requirements. They are saying a 10-to-20%-win fee is typical for arduous bid or, public aggressive work, and a 30-to-50%-win fee is frequent for negotiated or chosen bid work.”

In line with Curry, it’s best to contemplate reviewing:

• Income by month or quarter
• Win charges for various kinds of initiatives
• Developments within the initiatives you do greatest

This helps you strategize extra successfully, reminiscent of rising your win fee or discovering extra of your best-fit jobs.

4. Concentrate on Price Management and Estimating Accuracy

Understanding your prices is important to good, worthwhile bidding. Curry encourages contractors to:

• Frequently examine quotes to make sure your vendor pricing stays aggressive. Even when you’ve got trusted suppliers, it is necessary to confirm their charges and worth.
• Verify your labor charges and examine them with native averages.
• Evaluate your estimating course of. Easy errors can change your pricing.

“In case your bids are too excessive as a result of your prices are off—even by slightly bit—you’re going to lose out. But when your bids are too low, you possibly can win a undertaking and lose cash on it,” Curry factors out. Preserve reviewing and bettering your strategy.

5. Observe Your Time to Full Bids

Timing is necessary. Curry warns, “In case you are working in your estimates and you are going (too rapidly), there is a chance for errors. You may be shifting (too slowly). This might positively hinder your means to be aggressive.”

• Going too quick could cause errors or missed particulars.
• Taking too lengthy can imply lacking submission deadlines, shedding alternatives to opponents who submit their bids quicker, or giving purchasers the impression that your crew is much less dependable or responsive. This could rapidly put you at an obstacle when each minute counts.

Observe every step of your bid course of and search for methods to avoid wasting time with out shedding high quality.

Sensible Instruments to Improve Your Bidding Course of

These insights can really feel like quite a bit to soak up, however bidding doesn’t must be a headache. ConstructConnect provides easy-to-use options that sort out the precise challenges Jon Curry highlights. The next instruments may also help streamline your course of, scale back errors, and deal with successful the initiatives that matter most to your crew: